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The Jays teams that made us care: Arthur

For over two decades the Toronto Blue Jays were the picture of mediocrity. Then last season they took off, and rocketed to within two games of the World Series. They took this town and this country on a ride.

A dejected Jose Bautista kneels on the base path after being thrown out at second base during the sixth inning Wednesday night in the final Jays game of the season. (Richard Lautens / Toronto Star)

Fast forward to the end, to the beginning. In their last bottom of the ninth of this Toronto Blue Jays season we got one last look at the heart of it all. Jose Bautista; Josh Donaldson; Edwin Encarnacion. This was the last stand. The crowd stood and they chanted for them: “Jose, Jose-Jose-Jose”; “M-V-P! M-V-P!” “Ed-die! Ed-die!” Troy Tulowitzki was the last out, but those guys before, they were the show. Hell of a noise.

That moment meant something. It all did.

“The thing I feel really proud of is the fans chanting my name,” said Encarnacion after the Jays lost 3-0 to Cleveland, and lost the American League Championship Series four games to one. “Maybe that gave me too much energy, trying to do too much, and it didn’t work out.”

Translator Josue Peley said “energy” but Edwin said “mi emotion.” Asked to expand, Peley said Encarnacion tried to be bigger, to rise to the moment. As Peley put it, “Normally he wouldn’t have swung at those pitches. Too much emotion coming out, too much energy. He didn’t get down. He didn’t get sad. He got excited. He tried to do too much. He said, ‘I got emotional. I tried to do too much.’ ”

It has been emotional, these past two years. For over two decades the Toronto Blue Jays were the picture of mediocrity. They didn’t matter. Then last season they took off, and rocketed to within two games of the World Series. They took this town and this country on a ride.

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This year was stranger, with a new front office and an uncertain future, and then they beat Baltimore in extra innings on Encarnacion’s foghorn homer, and swept Texas, and then came Cleveland. Cleveland had two starting pitchers. Cleveland started a 24-year-old named Ryan Merritt Wednesday who had thrown 11 big-league innings in his life before shutting out Toronto for four and a third. Cleveland scored 12 runs in five games and won the series.

“This is one of those things where we’ll always look back and wonder what if?” said designated hitter Michael Saunders. He is a free agent, along with Bautista and Encarnacion. But Saunders is one thing. The two big bats are the topic of the moment. They have meant so much.

“Do I wish that they’d come back? Of course, man. These guys are awesome,” said catcher Russell Martin, whose post-season was a 3-for-33 nightmare. “You can think about it, but there’s nothing you can do. Knock on the GM’s door and say, hey man, let’s do this.”

“When I came here, we weren’t drawing too well,” said starting pitcher Marco Estrada, who could not be perfect in Game 5. “It’s obviously not my job to offer them whatever they want, but I hope we go after them. I’ll pray that they’ll both be back. But if they’re not, we’ll move on.” Kevin Pillar, in the corner, was wearing an Edwin T-shirt.

The 33-year-old Encarnacion reiterated Toronto is his first choice, and said via Peley, “I’m really proud to be the face of this franchise with Jose . . . I’m really proud of that.” He said, “To be honest, I’m really sad, because I don’t know what’s going to happen next. But overall I feel really proud about the fans and the organization.”

He might be back. Bautista did not want to discuss his future on his 36th birthday. He ripped a stand-up double ripped down the line against Cleveland closer Cody Allen in the ninth, but Donaldson, who hit .417 in the post-season, struck out on three pitches in the ninth. Edwin came to the plate, heard the sound, and the emotion welled in him. The third strike was a swing at a curveball well out of the zone.

Tulowitzki popped out to end it. Bautista didn’t get as emotional as Edwin; he has never been as emotional as Edwin. But he heard them chanting.

“That was nice to see,” said Bautista. “It’s great. I used to see specks of it here and there on Opening Days and Canada Days, and you knew the potential was there, but nobody wants to root for a loser. Obviously, now that we’re playing better, it’s to be expected from our fans.”

So they all hugged and packed up, because a clubhouse disbands fast. Last season, the season ended in Kansas City, and they were angry. This time, it was just over. The champagne bottles on top of lockers were empty.

This all started in 2013 when then-GM Alex Anthopoulos made the big Florida trade, the big R.A. Dickey trade, because he had two 40-run homer bats in their primes and figured he never would again. That flopped, and then came the next phase: the Donaldson trade, the Tulowitzki trade, last year, this year. What a ride.

Well, Mark Shapiro is in charge now, and we’ll find out what kind of vision and creativity and ambition he has. Can he sign Edwin? Can he replace Jose? Will it be better, or more fun? Who knows?

But we’ll always look back with fondness on the Jays teams that made people care, that brought out so much emotion. It was nice, you know. It was nice when this franchise, so content in the meaningless middle for so damned long, finally tried to do too much.

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